Card of the Day – 8 of Discs, Prudence

I'm going to write about the meaning of the Tarot cards in my deck, but rather than doing it in some dull old logical order I thought I'd just cut one out of the deck when I have the time and see which one turned up. With time this may even turn into a complete, if slightly eccentric, guide to how to read the Tarot. I'll also try to figure out if they are turning up randomly or if there's some meaning in which card turns up at which time.

8 of Discs, Prudence

I guess it's time to slow down a little. The key phrase that always comes to mind with this card is "slow, steady, growth." It's another earth card, so this card is about the things we can touch – money, property, possessions, our own body. This is generally a healthy, positive card, a card of growth, but it is a card that implies things are going to take their own sweet time.

The plant in this image looks healthy, and it looks to be growing. The circle in the top centre of the image is the sun, which is shining positively onto the plant. However, you can see the leaves of the plant are each curled around the flowers (which contain the coins, the physical manifestation that the card represents). The reason the leaves curl around the flowers is to protect them from being scorched by the sun. Those flowers will produce seeds with time, but right now they are still vulnerable, needing protecting, they need to be given time to grow.

This card therefore generally indicates that there is a growth, but that it may come rather slowly. My experience in life is that things in the physical world do tend to take rather longer than we'd like – it takes a little longer than we want for a project to come to fruition, for a business to pay off, for a illness to heal… Often we'll get there, but this card is a reminder that it may have to happen a little slower than we might hope.

As a card of the day this would suggest to me that it's a good time to take things a little easier – things are going well, but they need time to really come to fruition. Don't push too hard, but rest a little knowing that things will come out a positive way in their own good time. There's growth – it may just be so slow we don't always observer, or appreciate, it.

One Response to "Card of the Day – 8 of Discs, Prudence"

I just googled prudence and found your post. I just did a five card spread and the 5th card was IX the Hermit, and when I looked in the manual that came with the cards it said nothing about the hermit but it said "IX Prudence: He is everything that man keeps at a distance, prudent and free and immensely intimate, capable of guiding in the dark." I was confused, because it seems like The Hermit and Prudence are two separate cards, though the 8th card is balance in my deck (Crystal Tarot). And yet I can see how their meanings are intertwined, and both are bringing meaning to the original intent of my reading. Thought it was kind of cool. Thank you for your post 😉